Pure Gold!

America’s epochal gold rush began an hour or two from where I sit. Then a cascade of treasure seekers transformed a sleepy town into a base camp to their fame and fortune. In the process they helped turn San Francisco into one of the country’s most iconic and beloved cities.

Now millions of modern-day adventurers “know the way to San Jose,” as Dionne Warwick once sang. They’re drawn (physically or digitally) to Silicon Valley’s still booming high tech gold rush. It’s happening south of where the gold miners once stopped for critical supplies, technical help, and gossip that dreams were made of.

(Sound a bit like you?)

In one recent blog I compared those 19th-century 49ers to the internet and social media superstars of our age. They are similar, but we can follow in their footsteps without leaving our computer desks. We just need to know what variety of “gold” we’re seeking, and discover the optimal way to capture and leverage it.

There’s actually a pot of gold with your name on it. It has been growing inside you for years. Your special values, qualities and habits have always helped you succeed. Just like physical gold, you can be creative and shape them, your internal treasure, into something beautiful. Most want to exchange it for essential goods and services that keep you comfortable and productive.

The original gold prospectors could go mining, or grab a pan and head for a local stream. Modern business “prospectors” with the right backing and background might search for a major lode. But many entrepreneurs enjoy nurturing the equivalent of unexpected “placer gold” treasures in themselves, and for their business communities.

Future posts will explore proven, low tech ways to tap into the internal gold that’s been hiding right there in the gravel and sand of your everyday experience and constraints. Our innovative combination of brainstorming, inspiration and carefully planned growth and communication is all you’ll need to strike it rich.